October 18, 2010

Activism Across Party Lines: The Nestle Boycott

One week from today marks the beginning of International Nestle-Free Week, "a time for those who support the [Nestle] boycott to do more to promote it and for those who don't boycott to give it a go, at least for a week."

Wait a minute. Don't click away just yet. Especially those of you reading who have used formula to feed your babies. I fear that the topic of the Nestle boycott is perceived as a lactivist's cause and that those who have formula fed have the freedom to, at best, ignore the boycott, or at worst, lob accusations at Nestle boycotters for being insensitive to the plight of those who have chosen formula for infant feeding.

This could not be further from the truth.

I maintain that the Nestle boycott should be taken up by everyone, especially by parents on either end of the infant feeding spectrum. Hang with me on this.

If you are a parent who formula fed, you know how imperative it is that formula be mixed with safe, clean water. Parents who formula feed know that bottle feeding requires safe, clean water to wash baby bottles. Parents who have fed babies formula know that the costs can prove to be a strain on the family budget.

Imagine if you lived in an area where your water sources were suspect at best. Can you imagine mixing formula for your child with water that isn't safe for human consumption? Can you imagine living in such desperate, desolate poverty that you can't afford to mix the formula full-strength, so you do the best you can to stretch the can, diluting and diluting until what your baby is fed is only a fraction of what she needs to grow and thrive?

Yet these areas of the world are included in the markets targeted by Nestle who makes promises on the can label that their formula will protect babies. These are areas of the world where Nestle undermines breastfeeding "with untrue claims about its formula and refuses to provide information for those who use formula with information on how to reduce the risks. Powdered formula is not sterile and Nestlé does not want to admit this on labels because doing so would undermine its claims that its formula protects babies and may harm its sales" (from the Boycott Nestle blog).

Think about what Annie wrote in her Open Letter published last fall in response to the Nestle Family Blogger event:

In developing countries, the difference between being breastfed and being bottle fed truly is life or death. When women choose to formula feed in developing countries, their babies are at significant risk. They do not have the financial means to keep buying formula, so they water it down and give their babies less than they really need. There is often a lack of clean water, so formula gets mixed with dirty water, which can lead to infections, disease and death.

Most every person reading this who has used formula for infant feeding lives in the luxury of an area where access to clean water is not an issue and where, if you cannot afford formula, there are government programs in place to provide formula for you. I'm asking you to empathize with parents around the world who don't have access to breastfeeding support, nor do they have a safe way to feed formula to their babies.

Next week, I'll share a little more on why I believe we all should be boycotting Nestle products (and you can see from the logo above that Nestle extends its reach far beyond chocolate), but before we go there, I just felt like it would be best to preface those conversations with this one.

In my mind, parents in this country who formula feed should be leading the charge against Nestle as a way of showing solidarity and support for parents around the world. Because in the end, the Nestle boycott isn't about you and your feelings about the infant feeding discussion. It isn't about me and my passionate advocacy for breastfeeding. The Nestle boycott is about holding Nestle responsible for its business practices and demanding that as a corporation, it would value human life over financial gain.

Join us, won't you? (On Facebook or Twitter with the #noNestle hashtag or in your blog sidebar or, most importantly, at the cash register)

Comments

Activism Across Party Lines: The Nestle Boycott

One week from today marks the beginning of International Nestle-Free Week, "a time for those who support the [Nestle] boycott to do more to promote it and for those who don't boycott to give it a go, at least for a week."

Wait a minute. Don't click away just yet. Especially those of you reading who have used formula to feed your babies. I fear that the topic of the Nestle boycott is perceived as a lactivist's cause and that those who have formula fed have the freedom to, at best, ignore the boycott, or at worst, lob accusations at Nestle boycotters for being insensitive to the plight of those who have chosen formula for infant feeding.

This could not be further from the truth.

I maintain that the Nestle boycott should be taken up by everyone, especially by parents on either end of the infant feeding spectrum. Hang with me on this.

If you are a parent who formula fed, you know how imperative it is that formula be mixed with safe, clean water. Parents who formula feed know that bottle feeding requires safe, clean water to wash baby bottles. Parents who have fed babies formula know that the costs can prove to be a strain on the family budget.

Imagine if you lived in an area where your water sources were suspect at best. Can you imagine mixing formula for your child with water that isn't safe for human consumption? Can you imagine living in such desperate, desolate poverty that you can't afford to mix the formula full-strength, so you do the best you can to stretch the can, diluting and diluting until what your baby is fed is only a fraction of what she needs to grow and thrive?

Yet these areas of the world are included in the markets targeted by Nestle who makes promises on the can label that their formula will protect babies. These are areas of the world where Nestle undermines breastfeeding "with untrue claims about its formula and refuses to provide information for those who use formula with information on how to reduce the risks. Powdered formula is not sterile and Nestlé does not want to admit this on labels because doing so would undermine its claims that its formula protects babies and may harm its sales" (from the Boycott Nestle blog).

Think about what Annie wrote in her Open Letter published last fall in response to the Nestle Family Blogger event:

In developing countries, the difference between being breastfed and being bottle fed truly is life or death. When women choose to formula feed in developing countries, their babies are at significant risk. They do not have the financial means to keep buying formula, so they water it down and give their babies less than they really need. There is often a lack of clean water, so formula gets mixed with dirty water, which can lead to infections, disease and death.

Most every person reading this who has used formula for infant feeding lives in the luxury of an area where access to clean water is not an issue and where, if you cannot afford formula, there are government programs in place to provide formula for you. I'm asking you to empathize with parents around the world who don't have access to breastfeeding support, nor do they have a safe way to feed formula to their babies.

Next week, I'll share a little more on why I believe we all should be boycotting Nestle products (and you can see from the logo above that Nestle extends its reach far beyond chocolate), but before we go there, I just felt like it would be best to preface those conversations with this one.

In my mind, parents in this country who formula feed should be leading the charge against Nestle as a way of showing solidarity and support for parents around the world. Because in the end, the Nestle boycott isn't about you and your feelings about the infant feeding discussion. It isn't about me and my passionate advocacy for breastfeeding. The Nestle boycott is about holding Nestle responsible for its business practices and demanding that as a corporation, it would value human life over financial gain.

Join us, won't you? (On Facebook or Twitter with the #noNestle hashtag or in your blog sidebar or, most importantly, at the cash register)